


consequentialism, if you will

by orphan_account



Series: speech and debate [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, but noren said hi hello, finally a debate fic, jaemin is bff of the year, renjun is stressed and mean for most of this, this was actually supposed to be strictly kunten
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-10-16 21:18:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17553380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “Anyway, I think we should set them up with each other.”Jeno bagged the carton and slid it over the counter. “Like The Parent Trap?”(After deciding that his debate coach needs to start dating, Renjun decides to set him up. To do so, however, he’ll have to conspire with his number one enemy.)





	consequentialism, if you will

**Author's Note:**

> beep beep boop it’s a debate au!! with hardly any debating!!! yay! ( i wrote this in a rush so,,,,)

Renjun liked to think that debate was something akin to a drug. There was nothing more addictive than seeing the startled look on his opponent’s face as he effortlessly misconstrued their words during cross-examination. Or when he slowly deconstructed every single one of their points without even tiring himself out. There was nothing better. 

 

Well, that was until now, as he and his teammates watched in quiet amusement as their coach, Ten, blushed a deep red while in conversation with another coach, Kun. 

 

“Does Ten look sick to you?” Donghyuck asked he brushed the lint roller over his suit jacket once more. 

 

Ten rarely blushed, or well, showed any form of emotional weakness in general, so Renjun could see how Donghyuck drew that conclusion. But he had seen the frantic glances Ten cast at Kun at every tournament, ears a bright pink. 

 

“More like flustered,” Renjun said. “I wouldn’t say sick.”

 

“Ooh, do you think he…?” Jisung started but let the rest of the question dangle in the air. Jeno was right in front of them, organizing cards on his laptop. 

 

Renjun nodded furiously in response to Jisung, making sure that Jeno wasn’t paying attention. 

 

Donghyuck finally finished removing every speck of dust and lint from his jacket and grabbed his laptop. “Let’s talk about this… not here. We’ve got to get to our rounds, and the Wicked Witch,” he gestured to Jeno, “is within hearing range.”

 

The trio made their way out of the cafeteria and it was only thirty seconds later that Donghyuck broke. 

 

“Can you imagine Ten and Kun dating? That’d practically make us teammates with  _ Jeno.” _

 

Renjun laughed. “They’re coaches not parents. I’d never be teammates with Jeno.”

 

Jisung startled and stopped in the middle of the hallway, tall frame bouncing in excitement. “That reminds me!”

 

“Of what?”

 

He leaned in close, voice low. “I heard Jeno used an angel during his first few meets freshman year.”

 

Donghyuck and Renjun gasped, scandalized. An angel in debate was a person, usually an older teammate, who sat in on rounds and aided a debater. Even the mention of angels made Renjun pissy. And to hear that Jeno, his biggest rival, had used an angel his first year, was simply  _ delightful.  _

 

Donghyuck smiled wickedly. “Get the fuck out, you’re lying.”

 

Jisung laughed and continued down the hall. “Promise I’m not. Chenle accidentally told me at soccer practice yesterday.”

 

Renjun sighed wistfully. He loved that kid; he could never keep his mouth shut about his teammate. “Hopefully you thanked him for his service.”

 

Jisung entered the room of his round and nodded. “Oh  _ absolutely.” _

 

*

 

Renjun was pleased to learn that a speech tournament was being held in the same high school, so, in a quest to find his best friend, he ran across the school right after his last round. 

 

“Nana!” He shouted and Jaemin paused his conversation long enough to glare at his friend.

 

“You’re so obsessed with me, you freak,” Jaemin said but there was nothing but humor in his eyes. “How’s the inferno on the other side of the school?”

 

Jaemin always liked to boast that speech was infinitely more fun that debate, but Renjun found it hard to find an activity that didn’t run the risk of making competitors cry amusing.

 

“Ass,” Renjun said flatly. He was pretty sure he had lost his last round. “They power matched me with Jeno.”

 

Jaemin winced. “Yikes. He still mean to you?”

 

“He’s not mean, he’s just annoying. It’s like, debate is all he does or something.”

 

Jaemin held his arms open. “Hug?” 

 

Renjun took the offer and for probably the millionth time in his life, he was grateful for having Jaemin as a best friend. 

 

“Anything else going on?” Jaemin asked when they pulled away. 

 

Renjun was about to answer no, when the image of a blushing Ten popped into his mind. “I think Ten has a crush on Jeno’s coach.”

 

Jaemin’s eyes widened. “No shit. Kun?”

 

“Yeah. Do you know him or something?”

 

Jaemin sat atop a table, face lit up in amusement. “That’s like, Sicheng’s best friend. He comes to our practices sometimes.”

 

“Oh, yeah.” Sometimes Renjun forgot that Jeno and Jaemin went to same school. “Where is he then?”

 

“He’s turning in prose scores right now,” Jaemin pointer behind Renjun. “But it looks like he’s done now.”

 

Renjun had met Sicheng a handful of times, but was repeatedly taken aback at how  _ regal  _ he looked. There was an unmistakable air around him that commanded respect. 

 

“Hey, Jaemin. Were your rounds good?” Sicheng asked, stern expression on his face. 

 

Jaemin just beamed at him. “Yep. I’ll be surprised if I don’t place first.”

 

“You’re so damn cocky. Cool it kid.” Sicheng finally noticed Renjun. “Aren’t you in debate?”

 

Renjun gaped unable to form words. Trust speech people to make him speechless. “Uh.. yeah? Do you know Kun?”

 

Sicheng stared back, confused. “Yes…? Why?” He turned to Jaemin. “Your friend is weird.”

 

Jaemin bit back a laugh. “He’s trying to set his coach up with Kun.”

 

Sicheng smiled,  _ finally _ , and Renjun relaxed. “Ah, I see. That’s sweet of you. I’m really good friends with both of them.”

 

Renjun fiddled with the buttons on his jacket. Debate was definitely not as hard as this. “Um, do you want to help?”

 

Sicheng laughed and the last waves of intimidation rolled away. “Shouldn’t they just tell each other they have feelings for the other? Why do we need to get involved?”

 

Renjun scoffed. Sicheng obviously didn’t know Ten as well as he claimed. The man was practically emotionally inept. The only things he did was sleep, go to class, go to work, and coach their team. He was a law school robot. 

 

“I can see why he coaches speech,” Renjun said to Jaemin. “He’s tactless.”

 

Jaemin looked away before bursting into laughter. Sicheng shook his head, stoic expression forming once again. “You’re just like Jeno.”

 

Ouch. Renjun felt a knife carve into his character. “Why would you even suggest something like that? That’s so mean. Jaemin, tell him how mean that is.”

 

“Sicheng, that was really mean.”

 

“Whatever, I don’t have time for this. Round the team up and tell them to move into the lecture hall for awards.” With that, Sicheng walked away, maintaining his stiff posture. 

 

“Guess you’re out of luck, Jun,” Jaemin said. “Unless you want to talk to Jeno.”

 

Renjun shuddered. “I’d never.”

 

*

 

Turns out, Renjun did end up talking to him, just three hours later.

 

It was evening, and Renjun had been craving mint chocolate-chip ice cream for eons, and decided to drive all the way into the hippie-arts-pothead district to buy his favorite brand. As he walked into the little shop situated by the reservoir, Jeno was stood at the counter, dorky purple cap atop his head. 

 

Renjun was torn between walking away from the person who had stolen first place from him just hours before, or digging his grubby little fingers into a pint of ice cream. Basic human need won, of course. 

 

“Hey, Huang,” Jeno mumbled as he fixed his apron. “What can I get for you?”

 

Renjun wanted to say his stolen first place ribbon, but a pint of mint chocolate-chip tumbled out instead. 

 

Jeno made a face but started scooping the green substance anyway. “That flavor tastes like toothpaste.”

 

“I don’t really need commentary, thanks.”

 

Jeno rolled his eyes and moved to the register. “Six dollars even.”

 

Renjun pulled out a twenty, and as he handed the money over, he noticed Jeno’s phone lighting up with an email notification from Kun. His rationality kinda flew from there. 

 

“Hey, have you noticed how close Kun and Ten are?”

 

Jeno punched a few buttons on the register. “Who the fuck is Ten?”

 

“My coach, dumbass.”

 

“Oh. The short one with the piercings?”

 

“He’s not that short.”

 

“He’s about as short as you, which is pretty short.”

 

Renjun breathed  in deeply, trying not to make a simple transaction into another debate round. “Anyway, I think we should set them up with each other.”

 

Jeno bagged the carton and slid it over the counter. “Like  _ The Parent Trap _ ?”

 

“... Sure.”

 

“Doesn’t this mean we’ll have to communicate outside of tournaments?”

 

“... Yes.”

 

“And you’re okay with that?”

 

“The end justify the means. Consequentialism, if you will.”

 

Jeno laughed. “You must be serious if you’re bringing values into a shitty ice cream place.”

 

“Jeno.” Leave it to Jeno to annoy Renjun no matter the time and place.

 

He let out another laugh, before handing his phone over. “Okay, okay. Just don’t blow my phone up with framework or anything like that.”

 

Renjun feigned offense. “I’d never.”

 

*

 

Renjun was slowly, but surely, going crazy. It was a Saturday, three weeks after his last tournament with Jeno. Renjun could see him facing the wall, reciting his constructive. And for some reason, the familiar feeling of hatred didn’t bubble up like it usually did. 

 

Renjun thought it probably had something to do with how often he’d been communicating with his competitor. So far, they’ve managed to trick their coaches into a lunch date, sent flowers in Kun’s name to Ten, and food in Ten’s name to Kun. And even today they’d placed sticky notes on their packets before the coaches had arrived with sweet messages written on them. 

 

But Ten and Kun weren’t the only thing they talked about. Sometimes they just texted the other dumb stuff: like a screenshot of a funny tweet, or a YouTube link to a video of a deer dancing to  _ Gasolina _ . 

 

And gradually, Renjun realized that Jeno wasn’t as horrible as he thought. He was only mean because debate was a mean competition. And that realization startled him more than anything else. 

 

Back when they were freshmen, young, bright-eyed novice debaters, an older member of the team, named Yukhei, had told him to be as polite as possible. Judges didn’t like rude debaters. 

 

So he walked into he first round, prepared to shake hands, and maybe make a new friend, but Jeno seemed sort of hellbent on doing the exact opposite. And every other novice debater has noticed it too. Jeno was an asshole. 

 

Or well, they had all  _ thought  _ Jeno was an asshole. He was actually just a nerd that texted Renjun “good night :)” every day. It was unsettling. 

 

With these frazzled nerves and foreign emotions making an appearance, Renjun blazed through his affirmative constructive opposite Jeno. 

 

Things kind of fell apart at cross-examination, however. 

 

It was considered impolite to look your opponent in the eye as you questioned them, but Jeno’s big kind eyes stared back at him as he asked question after question. 

 

When the judge wasn’t looking, Jeno mouthed an “Are you okay?” 

 

Renjun stuttered through an answer to a previous question before bolting all the way to the bathrooms.  

 

He locked himself in a stall, and thanked his sanity for allowing him to grab his phone before he bailed. 

 

“Jaemin,” He said when the call picked up. 

 

“Do you know what time it is, asshat?”

 

Renjun sighed. Jaemin was not a morning person. “Dude, I just ran out of a round. Like, halfway through.”

 

“Holy fuck. Are you sick or something?”

 

“No, but Jeno-“

 

“I swear to God if that asshole said anything to you, I’ll beat his ass. What happened babes?”

 

Renjun leaned back against the porcelain seat. “Nothing. He’s really nice and it makes me mad.”

 

Jaemin whispered an “Are you fucking kidding me?” before, “You called me for this? You threw a round because he’s  _ nice _ ?”

 

Renjun shrugged. “I haven’t slept in like two months. Any type of emotional distress sends me over the edge.”

 

“Obviously you’re not too shaken up because you still talk like a dusty diplomat. Look-”

 

“Renjun? Are you in here?” Renjun could hear Jeno say, his footsteps moving into the bathroom. 

 

“Hey, Nana, I’ll call you back, bye,” Renjun whispered then hung up. He unlocked the stall and walked out. 

 

“Oh, there you are. Is everything okay?” Jeno asked. He wasn’t wearing his suit jacket anymore, the sleeves of his shirt pushed up. 

 

“Um, no?”

 

Jeno stepped closer, examining Renjun’s face. “Oh. What’s wrong?”

 

“Jeno, do you hate me?”

 

Jeno laughed uneasily. “What? No. I’ve never hated you.”

 

Something prickly settled in Renjun’s stomach. It felt like guilt. 

 

“Jeno.”

 

“Yes?” 

 

“I’ve hated you for like four years.”

 

A cool expression settled on Jeno’s face. He almost looked hurt. “Damn. Thanks, I guess?” 

 

He turned to walk out but Renjun was quicker in grabbing his arm. 

 

“But, I don’t. Not anymore. It feels like the opposite and it’s driving me fucking insane.” 

 

Jeno looked back at Renjun, red painting his cheeks, then, “I’m not gonna kiss you in a high school bathroom. Wanna ditch the tournament?”

 

*

 

(“Where the hell did you go?” Donghyuck screamed through the phone. Renjun pulled the phone away from his face. Jeno winced at the noise as his licked at his ice cream cone. 

 

He glanced at Jeno skipping along the banks of the reservoir. “I felt sick. Why?”

 

“You totally missed Ten and Kun getting caught hooking up in the judges lounge,” Renjun put it on speaker, motioning for Jeno to listen. A smile blossomed on his face. “I feel like they’re the only nerds capable of finding someone. Ugh. I hate being single.”

 

Renjun laced his fingers with Jeno’s. “Yeah. Kinda sucks, doesn’t it?”)

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> EDIT: I actually won't be posting anymore fics. I plan to be really busy in the upcoming months and it doesn't look like it'll slow down after that!! thank you reading this and any other of my works and please, please keep supporting nct and wayv!!


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